How to Write 砝 (fá) — Meaning “Weight (used in 砝码)”

Imagine a stone (石) weight that you "go" (去) and place on a scale. The action of going to put the stone on the balance helps you link the two parts to the meaning of "weight."

Write 石 first (three strokes: horizontal, left-falling, horizontal), then 去 on the right (five strokes: horizontal, vertical, horizontal, left-falling, dot). A common mistake is writing the top part of 去 too wide, so the character looks unbalanced. Keep the stone part slightly taller and the 去 part narrow to fit well together.

砝 (fá) means "weight" and is only used in words like 砝码. 矸 (gān) means "rock" or "ore" and appears in 矸石 (waste rock). 矻 (kù) means "to toil" and is found in 矻矻 (hardworking). Visually, 砝 has 去 on the right, while 矸 has 干 and 矻 has 乞.

砝 is almost exclusively used in the word 砝码 (fámǎ), meaning a weight used on a scale for measuring mass. It appears in technical contexts like science labs, jewelry shops, or traditional market stalls. In old Chinese shops, brass or iron 砝码 were common, and matching weights were kept in a 砝码盒 (weight box).

Common words containing 砝 include: 砝码 (fá mǎ) — Weight (for a scale); 砝码盘 (fá mǎ pán) — Weight pan; 砝码盒 (fá mǎ hé) — Weight box.